Bring Me to Life
by Sanded Silk
Summary: Sakura, on a whim and under pressure by Ino, signs up to participate in a karaoke night. Oh boy. NejiSaku, rated for mild language


Another songfic. I'm taking a break from "Fallen Juno" to write this oneshot. Please read, enjoy, and most importantly, REVIEW!! D:

Lyrics used: "Bring Me to Life" by Evanescence (I love that song)

**Disclaimer: For once, I will do a normal disclaimer (--ignores the fact that this little intro here to completely ruins the normality (sp??)--). I don't own anything. **

Written while listening to- well, what do you know??- "Bring Me to Life" by Evanescence. Listen to the song if you haven't. It's absolutely lovely. --insert heart emote, which ffn stubbornly won't allow me to show--

--Sanded Silk--

* * *

"What the hell...?"

Sakura stared at the sheet of paper hanging from the door of the bar she and Ino daily raised the roof of together. The sheet, specifically, was a sign-up sheet. For what? Sakura scanned the top of the paper and easily found the title.

**RANDOM KARAOKE NIGHT **blared the title.

Sakura's mouth dropped open, and she turned to stare at a sheepish Ino. "You dragged me up from my blissful Saturday habit of sleeping to noon to sign up for _this_??"

Ino shrugged, struggling to look cool and unruffled. "Well, ever since Sasuke left you, you've been extremely wound up and restless. Very unhappy, as if something was stirring your soul and gripping your heart. And, plus, singing always cheers you up. And when was the last time you sang?" Ino let out a breath from talking so fast, and held up a pen she always kept in her purse. "Monday night, 7pm to 10pm. You up for it?"

Sakura switched her gape from Ino to the innocent sheet of paper hanging before her face. Thoughts ran through her head. Though her face didn't show it, Ino was rght- Sakura had been extremely unsatisfied ever since Sasuke broke up with her. And come to think of it, when _was _the last time she sang?

Hell, this seemed like fun. "All right," Sakura said, puffing her lips in a sigh, and took the pen Ino offered her to scribble her name on one of the empty lines.

Ino smiled, and took her pen back. "I promise, Sakura," She said with a big smile, "You won't regret this!" Sakura frowned. Ino hurried on. "5 bucks you'll feel better after singing."

"But you won't know whether I really will feel better or not," Sakura pointed out, tired. Ino shrugged. "S'long as you don't look at me as if your dream boyfriend broke up with you." Sakura scratched the back of her neck. "But... he kinda _did_..." Ino sighed. "You're ruining the point, pinky."

Sakura sighed, took one last look at her name printed on the list, and turned back to Ino, bottom lip slightly stuck out. "Now that you've completed your little quest of yours," Sakura said, "Can I go back to sleep?"

--

Monday night came all too soon. Sakura dressed carefully for the event- a pair of tight jeans, black combat boots (she wasn't the strappy heeled sandal type, mind you) and a navy-blue spaghetti-strapped tank top. Running the comb through her pink locks one last time, Sakura puffed an exasperated sigh and walked out her door, making sure her keys were in her pocket before locking and closing the door.

Once she stepped into the bar, she easily spotted her friend's bouncy blond head. "Heyy, Sakura, you actually showed up!" The bubbly girl said happily, and patted the empty folding chair she had saved.

Sakura plopped down and sighed for the millioneth time. "I hope this is going to be worth my time." Ino just shrugged. "That will depend on you tonight."

Sakura blew a stray lock of pink hair from her face and shrugged in reply. "Eh."

The karaoke event started soon after the bar had pretty much filled to the maximum. The announcer walked onto the stage, a number generator displayed by a projector onto a white screen behind him. "Welcome, ladies and germs, to our annual Random Karaoke Night! Behind me, as you can see, is a number generator. This device will help us decide who is going to sing what tonight. Everyone who signed up has also been assigned a certain number. Everytime we choose a new song, we will randomly select a number- or two, depending on the song. The people who have been assigned those numbers will sing the song. Gots it?"

_'Gots it?' _Sakura pouted at his horrible grammar, but no one else seemed to notice. Everyone cheered crazily, not being able to wait for the night to begin.

"All right," The announcer said, dramatically pressing the button that triggered the number generator. "Our first song is..."

Sakura and Ino sat through 4 or 5 horribly-sung songs, cringing and laughing together. Sakura felt slightly better after the fifth singer sat down, cheering himself without a shred of shame. But mostly likely not enough to reach Ino's standards.

"Next song!" The announcer said with the same amount of enthusiasm he posessed at the beginning of the karaoke night. He triggered the number generator. "Song number 23- 'Bring Me to Life!'"

"'Bring Me to Life'?" Sakura frowned. "How emo."

"Hmm, seems like this song is a duet. So, folks, this song is the first multi-singer song of this night!" The crowd stared at him, their faces pointedly asking 'So what?'.

"A-All right, let's see who our singers are." He set the number generator again, and the generator stopped at 4. "Let's see, number 4... Hyuuga Neji!!" A few people clapped as a tall, quiet young man with long dark chestnut hair and strange pearly eyes stood and silently walked to the stage. He took one of the microphones, tapped it, and waited for his partner.

"Now let's see who his lucky partner will be..." The number 18 showed up. "Uzumaki Naruto!" A blond guy popped up. The announcer frowned. "This song is meant for a girl and a guy, not for two guys. Looks like we'll have to give the number generator another go." He lifted his hand to the pouting blonde, smiling apologeticaly. "Sorry, Naruto."

The next number was 13.

"Haruno Sakura!"

Sakura's heart froze. She barely felt Ino's excited squeals and nudges and pokes. The number 13 really was a bad luck number.

"Haruno Sakura? Is she here tonight?"

_Nononono, she's NOT here, _Thought Sakura mightily. She ducked down behind the guy in front of her. But Ino- loudmouth, retarded Ino- stood up and shouted, "No no, she's here; she's just a little shy!" Ino tugged Sakura to a standing positiong and ushered her down the aisle.

Sakura shrugged off Ino's hands and walked, frowning slightly, to the stage. She clambered onto the elevated platform and took the other microphone reluctantly. Her partner, Neji, watched her with some amusement.

Sakura whimpered to herself and gazed, panicked, at the audience. They sat waiting patiently for the music to start. Sakura caught sight of Ino's smiling face, and looked away quickly. If Sakura saw Ino's face within twenty minutes after the song was over, Sakura couldn't guarantee she could leave the blond without giving her a few bruises and possibly a black eye.

The piano introduction did start, much to Sakura's disappointment. She had been hoping for the karaoke machine to mysteriously die, but it didn't look like that would be the case.

Sakura glanced at the lyrics that were projected on the screen above the heads of the audience members. The song looked and sounded vaguely familiar, which slightly comforted Sakura.

The cue came. Sakura sighed, and began singing.

_How can you see into my eyes like open doors  
Leading you down into my core  
Where I've become so numb  
Without a soul my spirit sleeping somewhere cold  
Until you find it there and lead it back home_

Sakura blushed. To make someone- _anyone- _sing this song with a complete stranger was cruel and unusual punishment.

To this point, Neji had been silently watching her. His cue came, and he opened his mouth to reveal a low, calm voice. Together, the two strangers sang the chorus.

_(Wake me up)  
Wake me up inside  
(I can't wake up)  
Wake me up inside  
(Save me)  
Call my name and save me from the dark  
(Wake me up)  
Bid my blood to run  
(I can't wake up)  
Before I come undone  
(Save me)  
Save me from the nothing I've become_

Sakura stopped to take a breath as a short- extremely short- music break ensued. She had to admit, this Neji character wasn't such a bad singer.

_Now that I know what I'm without  
You can't just leave me  
Breathe into me and make me real  
Bring me to life_

When she paused and waited for the cue to start the chorus, she half-heartedly glanced at her partner, and found him gazing at her with his emotionless eyes. Sakura stared back, innocently raising an eyebrow.

_(Wake me up)  
Wake me up inside  
(I can't wake up)  
Wake me up inside  
(Save me)  
Call my name and save me from the dark  
(Wake me up)  
Bid my blood to run  
(I can't wake up)  
Before I come undone  
(Save me)  
Save me from the nothing I've become_

A small break in the music followed, where Sakura and Neji hummed a tune together. Throughout the little humming session, Sakura repeatedly glanced at and looked away from Neji, who found this amusing. He enjoyed seeing the blush playing on her rugged, tomboy-ish cheeks, and the sound of her sweet, soft voice in harmony with his.

_Frozen inside without your touch without your love darling  
Only you are the life among the dead_

In the following part, the two altered singing. Neji started first.

_All this time I can't believe I couldn't see  
Kept in the dark but you were there in front of me_

Sakura followed, her voice slightly shaky from being unaccustomed to the sudden change in the pace of the song. But rapidly, she grasped the melody and sang perfectly fine.

_I've been sleeping a thousand years it seems  
Got to open my eyes to everything_

Neji continued the song, his voice melding with hers as she dragged "everything" into his lines, winding their voices into a perfect, elaborate twist.

_Without a thought, without a voice, without a soul  
Don't let me die here  
There must be something more_

Neji returned Sakura's earlier favor, dragging "more" into her part. Again, their voices mixed together with flawless harmony. Sakura closed her eyes as she felt her soul drifted into the song. With as much passion as she could, she closed her eyes and sang the title of the song.

_Bring me to life..._

And for the last time, the two shared the chorus.

_(Wake me up)  
Wake me up inside  
(I can't wake up)  
Wake me up inside  
(Save me)  
Call my name and save me from the dark  
(Wake me up)  
Bid my blood to run  
(I can't wake up)  
Before I come undone  
(Save me)  
Save me from the nothing I've become_

Sakura leaned forward and closed her eyes, singing the last line, unconsciously moving closer to Neji. When she stood up, breathing hard and glancing at the screen for the lyrics to the next part similar to the humming from before, she realized with a start that Neji was standing closer to her than before, staring intently into her eyes.

Before Sakura could react, Neji dropped the arm holding the microphone, and reached over to gently wrap his other hand around her microphone over her hand. He drew both her microphone and her body close to his, and with their lips almost brushing each others', they shared the microphone as they sang the last verse together.

_Bring me to life...  
I've been living a lie, there's nothing inside _

As the final strum of the hard-metal guitar disappeared into the wild cheering of the crowd, Sakura and Neji stood in the middle of the stage, a baby's breath away from each other. Emerald eyes were magnetized to pearl ones, and the two were suddenly sucked into their own world. The wild, intruding audience disappeared, and the white noise of clapping and cheering stopped.

It was just them.

Sakura broke the moment, pulling away gently and sticking out her free hand to shake his. "Haruno Sakura," She said unnecessarily, smiling. Neji stared at her hand, and put out his own, wrapping his long fingers around her hand. "Hyuuga Neji," he smirked, the edge of his mouth lifting, corners of his eyes creasing slightly, his brow relaxing- the first time a part of his face other than his mouth moved that night.

Ino stepped onto the stage, and slammed her hands into Sakura and Neji's backs, forcing the two closer to each other. Suddenly self-conscious in Neji's arms, Sakura barely heard Ino say with a smirk: "You owe me 5 bucks."

* * *

**A/N: **I wrote this in two breaths, so go easy on the flames, please. :-/

Review, review, **review**.

--Sanded Silk--

Bring me to life...


End file.
